PCB or others that use Zupreem I have a question.

[My Peanuts]

I am trying everything humanly possible to get Alex's weight up. I am also literally obsessed with her and the other tiels' nutrition. Is this the kind of Zupreem you use and does your tiel/tiels like it? Thanks :)

Zupreem (http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/Zupreem/Class//T1/B23+1017+0615/EDP/37774/Itemdy00.aspx)

[popcornbird]

Hi Diana.
That is the Zupreem my tiels eat. I have tried many different brands with them and that's the ONLY one they will eat. They 'love' it. They do not like the bananas in the mix, but they eat everything else. Its actually hilarious to watch them eat, because when I fill their bowls, they go for the reds, carefully picking RED out. After the reds are finished, they eat the oranges. When the oranges are gone, they get a little upset, but go ahead and eat the greens as a last resort. Once the bananas are the only pellets left in their bowls, they start screaming for a refill! LOL! Seems like they really know their colors well. :p Other than the banana's, they really enjoy it, and personally, I've seen a great improvement in their feathers/activity/overall health ever since they've been on this diet. They eat seeds too, but pellets make up for at least 50% of their diet, and the rest of the time, they eat veggies, whole grain bread, certain cereals, seeds, etc. They used to be very picky with foods when I first got them, but now they'll eat anything I give them (other than non-zupreem pellets). Picky on brands. :o Zupreem is known to be one of the better brands though, so I would say to give it a try.

[My Peanuts]

Thanks PCB. I use pellets now, but Evie seems to be the only one that likes them. I think Alex's pickness is my fault. I got her as a baby when I was 16 years old and I only knew what Petsmart told me when I got her. I bought a book that I thought was good, but I now realize it isn't. Now, 8 years later, I know a lot of tiels, but Alex seems set in her ways. Due to her fragile state right now, I want her to eat more pellets, but I'm afraid to reduce the seed. I'm working on her though. Thanks for the advice :)

[Giselle]

What a coincidence! Bailey is also fed those Zupreems. He ALWAYS picks out the reds first. Then, he dives into his seeds and "forgets" about the other colors. I include Roudybush and Lafebers from time to time, so I'm alright with his preferances.:p

[tikeyas_mom]

i havent seen zupreem around here anywhere.. humm.. it looks interesting though :)

[CathyBogart]

I use the smaller fruit blend for Kiwi and he loves it. I feed it mixed with Roudybush and a small amount of seed.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Ditto everything PCB said. My cockatiels love it too, except for the banana pieces. LOL

[Logan]

Question:

Do you mix it with the seeds or provide a separate dish? I have pellets in a separate dish right now and they won't touch it. :rolleyes: It is not the brand that you are showing, either, so maybe I need to try those.

Logan

[K9soul]

I have been using Zupreem but I just started and so far she hasn't shown much interest in it, but I'm not using the kind you listed there. I may have to try that if she won't try this one.

On the bag directions for converting them to pellets, it says mix it in with their seeds, gradually increasing the pellet-seed ratio over a month. That is what I'm trying but if she still won't eat it after a few weeks I'll have to try another kind, I'll probably try the one with the fruit flavors that everyone's tiels seem to like. I would think if they've always been on seed and you just put a separate dish with pellets, they would ignore it and continue eating their seed as they are used to doing. Tiels seem to be one of the more difficult types of birds to convert in diet!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Originally posted by Logan
Question:

Do you mix it with the seeds or provide a separate dish? I have pellets in a separate dish right now and they won't touch it. :rolleyes: It is not the brand that you are showing, either, so maybe I need to try those.

Logan

I give them a bowl of pellets and a separate bowl of seeds.

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by Logan
Question:

Do you mix it with the seeds or provide a separate dish? I have pellets in a separate dish right now and they won't touch it. :rolleyes: It is not the brand that you are showing, either, so maybe I need to try those.

Logan

Seperate! When I used to mix them, they'd pick out the seeds and wouldn't touch the pellets. I keep both seeds and pellets in their cage at all times, but in seperate bowls. They do sit at the pellet bowl and eat pellets several times a day, so I know they like it, but once the seeds and pellets are mixed, they won't touch the pellets. I have to keep them in seperate bowls. I only mixed them when I first introduced the tiels to pellets. Once they got to know pellets are FOOD, I started putting seeds and pellets in seperate bowls. It works best that way for my birds.

[My Peanuts]

Originally posted by popcornbird
Seperate! When I used to mix them, they'd pick out the seeds and wouldn't touch the pellets. I keep both seeds and pellets in their cage at all times, but in seperate bowls. They do sit at the pellet bowl and eat pellets several times a day, so I know they like it, but once the seeds and pellets are mixed, they won't touch the pellets. I have to keep them in seperate bowls. I only mixed them when I first introduced the tiels to pellets. Once they got to know pellets are FOOD, I started putting seeds and pellets in seperate bowls. It works best that way for my birds.

Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. I was mixing them. I think my cages need more bowls! Seed, water, pellets, & grit :p

[K9soul]

Originally posted by popcornbird
Seperate! When I used to mix them, they'd pick out the seeds and wouldn't touch the pellets. I keep both seeds and pellets in their cage at all times, but in seperate bowls. They do sit at the pellet bowl and eat pellets several times a day, so I know they like it, but once the seeds and pellets are mixed, they won't touch the pellets. I have to keep them in seperate bowls. I only mixed them when I first introduced the tiels to pellets. Once they got to know pellets are FOOD, I started putting seeds and pellets in seperate bowls. It works best that way for my birds.

So mix at first and then separate? Cause I'm getting confused. You say separate but then at the end said you mixed it at first. I thought we were talking about how to convert to pellets, hence my thoughts to mix it when introducing :p

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by K9soul
So mix at first and then separate? Cause I'm getting confused. You say separate but then at the end said you mixed it at first. I thought we were talking about how to convert to pellets, hence my thoughts to mix it when introducing :p

LOL!!! I meant I give them seeds and pellets in seperate bowls now.

Let me explain my conversion process in a more simple way.

My birds often get their 'treats' in a plate on top of their cage. The treats they get there are usually foods they look forward to eating. That's where they always get their cereal, popcorn, veggies, etc., anything but seeds and pellets, which belong inside their cage.

When I first decided to introduce them to pellets, I bought a bag of pellets and read the instructions. It said to mix them with the seeds, and gradually limit the amount of seeds in the bowls and put mostly pellets. I didn't 'exactly' follow those instructions, but did somewhat.

The first day, I brought their treat plate and put it on top of their cage. Both birds ran out of their cage and climbed to the top, eager to see what I was going to give them. I sprinkled a few pellets in the plate and put nothing else. The look on their face was that of extreme confusion. They looked at the pellets, frowned, and left the plate. I left the plate there, and 2 hours later, they returned to investigate. They were unsure of it and didn't eat anything.

Next day, I did the same thing. I put one flake of cereal in the plate and put a few pellets in the rest. The flake was to attract them to the plate. They came, ate the cereal, and looked for more. Eventually, they started trying to eat the pellets, after realizing that's what I was going to give them. (I only did this during the conversion stage).

Once they realized the pellets were edible items, I started mixing them in their seeds, and followed the instructions. That's when I noticed they weren't eating them mixed. They would pick out the seeds. When I put JUST pellets in their plate on the top, they would eat it and finish it after they got used to them. They wouldn't touch them when I mixed them. I realized they thought pellets were one of those foods they'd get outside of the cage, and seeds were still the only 'inside the cage' food. Step #2 was...I had to change that.

I started mixing pellets in their large bowl of seeds INSIDE the cage (they have 3 food bowls...2 small ones and 1 big one). The first day I put 1 part pellets, 3 parts seeds. Second day, half and half. Third day 3/4 pellets. Fourth day, all pellets. Once seeds and pellets were completely seperate, they started eating them, and enjoying them. That's how I got them to know pellets were food and food that was to be eaten in the cage. It took around 2-3 weeks to fully convert them, but I didn't want to make the changes sudden. It worked well for us.

Hope that helps somewhat. Remember that every birdie thinks differently, so you might have to try different techniques with different birds!

[My Peanuts]

Before I had Alex and the others I never would have guessed these little guys to be so picky! :rolleyes: :)

[K9soul]

Thanks for the clarification Poppy :D. Maybe I'll pour myself a bowl of pellets and pretend I'm eating them. That should get Dawn interested LOL :D

[My Peanuts]

Ok I bought the Zupreem, but Petco didn't have the colorful ones so I bought the brown ones. I put them, unmixed, in Evie's bowl and I was going to put some seed in a new bowl. (I did this for Alex, Danny & Milton too) I figured Evie would be more likely to eat the pellets if they were in a familiar bowl. Before I even get the seed in her cage she was chowing down on the new pellets. She is too funny. What a little piglet!

Good news is I saw Alex checking out the new pellets too. I saw her eat a few. Keep your fingers crossed that she likes this kind :). Next I have to work on Danny & Milton :rolleyes: